Daily Archives: February 19, 2016

February 19, 2016   Uncategorized

A Bunch of ‘News’ . . .

Since we were heading out for lunch about 12:15, that was our excuse for not walking this morning. But I did get in a call in to Westland Sales about my Splendide drain pump problem.

As I mentioned yesterday, I noticed that when I turned the fan shown below,

Washer Pump Repair 12_thumb[1]

the white pump impeller shown below did rotate. But when I turn the impeller itself, the fan didn’t turn.

Washer Pump Repair 11_thumb[1]

Now my first thought was that there was some sort of slip clutch on the impeller so that if a sock or something got hung up, it wouldn’t burn out the pump but would just spin free. But I wanted to be sure before I went any further with the repair.

And it turns out my thought about the clutch was correct, and that’s the way it’s supposed to work.

So tomorrow, first up I’ll put 120vac to the motor to be sure it works, and then put the washer into spin/pump mode to be sure it is sending 120vac to the pump. This part may be interesting since the washer is presently upside down in the kitchen, but I’ll make it work somehow.

Then I’ll disassemble the pump as much as possible and clean it up, and then try to get some lithium grease into the bearings. Hopefully this will get it working again.

And before I put the bottom panel back on, I’ll spray it with the black Rustoleum paint I bought the other day to paint my re-welded screen door hinge. The panel is kind of rusty so it could use a little clean up.

We head out about 12:15 to meet blog readers Sherry and Clark for lunch at the nearby Asian BBQ & Grill. Neither of us had ever eaten there, but Sherry’s son, who lives in this area, recommended it.

Based on the Yelp reviews and pictures, we were hoping for our own local version of our favorite Little V’s Vietnamese Bistro. Since Little V’s is out in Katy near our daughter’s, and over an hour away, we don’t get there as often as we’d like, so we had our fingers crossed.

Getting to the restaurant, we were warmly greeted by Sherry and Clark, and spent some time getting to know them. And we quickly discovered that there’s a bunch of ‘news’ in their lives.

Sherry is newly retired, as in just last week, and she’s still trying to adjust to the big changes in her life.

And Sherry and Clark are on their way to being new ‘semi-fulltimers.’ They have a new Jayco 31ft Class A, and are planning to check out the fulltime lifestyle by taking several months this summer to travel the East Coast all the way up to the Escapees Escapade being held in Essex Junction, VT the last part of July. They did a one month trip last year, so this will be another step in that direction.

But the most important ‘new’ is the fact they’re ‘Newlyweds’, only married for 42 days.

Sherry and Clark Bennett_thumb[1]

So Congratulations to the happy couple!

Finally we got down to ordering, starting out with an order of their Shrimp and Pork Spring Rolls, Really good, with a great peanut sauce.

Asian BBQ Spring Rolls_thumb[1]

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For our entrée’s, Jan and I tried to duplicate our favorite dishes from Little V’s. We both got the Grilled Lemon Grass Chicken over Vermicelli, while I added a skewer of grilled shrimp to mine.

Asian BBQ Lemon Grass Chicken_thumb[2]

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Our meals came with the Fish Sauce above, but we also asked for some of their Dragon Sauce. Really hot, and a lot of flavor too.

Asian BBQ Dragon Sauce_thumb[1]

Jan and I both really liked our meals, and though we both agreed it wasn’t quite up to Little V’s, it was a delicious replacement, especially considering it’s about half the cost of Little V’s. Always a favorite of mine.

We will certainly go back.

Finally saying our goodbyes to Sherry and Clark, and thanking them again for the Pumpkin Muffins and bottle of Cupcake Moscato they brought Jan, we drove over to the nearby Sam’s Club for a few things before moving next door to Wal-Mart for a few more things. Then on the way home we stopped off at Starbuck’s for a caffeine pick-me-up. Jan went with her usual Cinnamon Dolce Latte, while I tried out what is now my new favorite Starbuck’s drink, a Smoked Butterscotch Latte.

Tomorrow we’ll try to get our walking started up again, and then I’ll get back on the pump repair.

Thought for the Day:

“Loyalty to country ALWAYS.”

“Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”

“Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.”- George Washington

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